It is important to distinguish between market value and price.

A price obtained for a specific property under a specific transaction may or may not represent that property's market value: special considerations may have been present, such as a family relationship between the buyer and seller, or else the transaction may have been part of a larger set of transactions in which the parties had engaged. Another possibility is that a specific buyer would be willing to pay a price higher than the market value. Such situations often arise in corporate finance, as per example when a merger or acquisition is concluded at a price which is higher than the value represented by the price of the underlying stock. The usual rationale for these valuations is that the 'sum is greater than its parts', since full ownership of a company entails special privileges for the buyer for which he is willing to pay. Such situations arise in real estate/property markets as well (see value-in-use). It is the task of the real estate appraiser/property valuer to judge whether a certain price obtained under a certain transaction is indicative of market value.